1014 clam discipleship

Liz came by to pick me up for the speaker series at Biola, but she was earlier than I expected. We made arrangements to go early, so we could get something to eat. I asked her to come by around 4:30pm. Imagine my surprise when she rang the doorbell at 3:00pm! I was in the bathroom at the time.

We left the house at 4:00pm and drove around (literally!) La Mirada. We had gone too far when we realized that the shopping center we were heading for was actually a park. We ended up at a Sizzler. I was reminded of a story, which I will now share with you.

Many years ago (ok, thirty-four, give or take a month or two) I was involved in a weekend campout with some younger scouts (yes, hard to believe, I was a Boy Scout) to help them train for their Camping and Cooking merit badges. The campout was at a Scout Reservation in Long Beach, so we weren’t backcountry or far from civilization.

We (there were about a half-dozen of us “senior” scouts) coached them on how to set-up their tents and campfires. When it came time to cook dinner, each one of them created a menu and we judged them on how they accomplished their tasks, including clean-up.

Once everything was squared away and the campsite was cleaned up, we dismissed them for a few hours while we had our own dinner. It was mid-summer, it was still light out, and the younger scouts wanted to chase the squirrels around the reservation property. So we told them to run around and have fun.

That’s when we “senior” scouts hiked about four blocks to have dinner at the nearby Sizzler. We thought we got away with it until the scoutmaster found out and gave us a verbal disciplining. Something about not setting a good example. But all I could think about was how good the shrimp lagostino was.

I had ordered the Fisherman’s Platter, which came with fish, shrimp, and clam. As I ate it, Liz asked me what clam tastes like. I took a bite, thought for a moment, and told her that “it takes like clam”. She just rolled her eyes. What did I say?

We made it to the lecture hall. The guest speaker was supposed to be Bruce Demarest, Professor of Christian Theology and Spiritual Formation at the Denver Seminary. But he was unable to make it for health reasons. Replacing him was Bill Hull, author and a former pastor who now runs the website “ChooseTheLife.com”, and he spoke about exploring a faith that embraces discipleship.

Jesus gave us the Great Commission (in Matthew 28:19) that reads “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

We have no problems with baptizing people, but churches fail to make disciples in the world.

What do you think? And what do you think clam tastes like? Please feel free to comment.